My car was nine years old and had 120,000 miles on it. This particular make is known to keep going for easily 200,000 or more, but it had a few issues and, at my age, I wasn't comfortable keeping an older car. So, I started searching for a … Read more
Search Results for: "1 Peter 5:"
Ten To Remind Me
Have you ever looked at your fingernails in spiritual way? I was sitting at the table, thinking about the devotionals that I had just read and prayed about, when I started looking at my nails. I could not help but think that it was only … Read more
Axing Anxiety
"Your wife and daughter have been in a wreck." Frank listened to the voicemail. Anxiety crept up his throat. He and his brother had been hiking in a place with no cell phone reception. He could see that he had voicemails but couldn't … Read more
Carrying Our Burdens
Recently, I watched a documentary about the world heritage narrow-gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway in northern India. Shimla is in the cool Himalayan foothills and once was the summer capital of British India as government and army staff escaped … Read more
Against Attack
One morning at the YWAM (Youth with a Mission) base near Tijuana, Mexico, the staff and students were taught self-protection moves. That area has a reputation for being rough, and tighter security measures, like a nightly patrol, had been … Read more
Attempted Derailment
I recently embarked on some steps toward a healthier lifestyle, adding walks and watching my dietary intake by recording what I eat daily. The first three weeks went very well. Then today, no sooner had I logged my weight loss than I … Read more
Good Versus Evil
At the tender age of seven years, I was left behind with my grandmother when my mother emigrated overseas. I felt unprotected, and the danger of being harmed by evil people was never far from me. Though no harm came to me, I became … Read more
Crazy Charlie
Charlie got his start as a project. My daughter worked in a home for developmentally disabled adults and took an egg from one of our hens to incubate. The residents watched in amazement as the egg slowly hatched and out popped Charlie! He … Read more
Going To The Top
My sister-in-law and I are classical music aficionados. For a number of years, we had season tickets to the Oregon Symphony and greatly enjoyed meeting in downtown Portland for each of the concerts in our season's package. This long-time … Read more
The Gardener
One morning in late August found me deadheading geraniums and collecting tomatoes from my garden. As we were approaching a change in season, I looked at a few plants that needed cutting back so that they will return next year. I couldn't … Read more
Trying Times
She was 91, able to live on her own and manage her own life. She had a few health issues, but her major concern was intolerable back pain. She sought various remedies, finally settling on surgery to insert a spinal cord stimulator. In … Read more
Heavy Burdens Lifted
On two earlier occasions, my husband and I had stayed at the same hotel after driving to visit relatives. This time, we opted for travelling by train. From the Amtrak station, we rode on the light rail system to a station within a short … Read more
Shed Your Heavy Load
In his first letter to the "Pilgrims of the Dispersion", the apostle Peter gives all kinds of advice to young and old alike, and then he tells them: These verses remind me of a story that I read some time ago about a vendor on his way to … Read more
Creatures On Alert
During our evenings, my husband and I have enjoyed watching nature shows on television. We marvel over the professional, hi-tech motion photography depicting the world of wildlife. Recently, however, I felt the need for a break. It was … Read more
The Locked Stairwell
As a student, I participated in a job experience program for a few weeks at a local newspaper office. One evening, I took the stairs down to the building lobby instead of the elevator, but as the heavy door latched behind me, I found that … Read more
Meet Our Dinner Guests
Today, I'd like you to meet Chippy and Red, our regular dinner guests this summer. Chippy is a chipmunk; Red is a red squirrel. They live in our backyard and join our evening meals on the deck. It didn't start smoothly, however. Red kept … Read more
Building Character
Fiery trials of life can be very hard, to the point of causing illness or death. When we come out of them, we may feel toasted from the heat. For the Christian, this is the testing of our mettle. It challenges our resilience and … Read more
Pray, For The Devil Prowls Like A Roaring Lion
From my kitchen window, I enjoy the heavy, low-flying, distinctively coloured, quiet, slow-mannered pair of wood ducks that like to rest on their webbed feet awhile on the horizontal branches of my big, old maple trees almost every morning … Read more
All Our Anxieties
The Greek word for anxiety is "merimna" which means to be distracted or divided, to fall apart or to be split into pieces. It is a good description of something that we all experience when life hits us hard. One day, everything seems to … Read more
The Great Ambush
When I was young, Saturday mornings were spent in front of the television set with my brothers, watching classic Western movies. The golden glow of the American southwest was a far cry from a cool Ontario morning! We loved the cowboys and … Read more
The Speeding Ticket
The reflection of blue lights flashed in my rear-view mirror. Embarrassed, I pulled over. "Ma'am, can you explain why you were speeding?" "Officer, I wasn't paying attention." When I got home, I looked up the potential consequences: a … Read more
A Modern Parable
Margaret Fishback Powers is the author of the poem Footprints in the Sand. The poem appears on pillows, cups, and posters. The theme of the poem is that Jesus is the caring one. Lillian Daniel has a contemporary version of a similar … Read more
God Answers Prayers
God in His mercy and love has answered many of my prayers. Some situations required an urgent answer; others not so much. When my children were very small, I was at death's door. I was quickly slipping away. I cried to the Lord in … Read more
Hallelujah! For The Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth
I awoke on Saturday night close to 12:00 a.m. with sharp pain in a tooth. After forcing aspirin chips into a tiny cavity that I had previously not known existed, I slept until 6:00 a.m. when pain awoke me. More aspirin chips got me active … Read more
Brake Failure
Today's devotional title may remind you of a bad dream: the nightmarish experience of losing control. What I have in mind is no dream. It's the actual world that we experience: the horrifying absence of brakes on sinful desire — like … Read more
The Insulation
People were thrilled when we finally got a much-needed dump of snow over a three-day period. It had been so cold and all our previous snow had melted during a warm period, leaving the ground exposed before the temperature dropped almost … Read more
The Three Little Squirrels
During the summer, out the window, I watched my three friendly squirrels racing about the yard and up and down their tree. The Lord has used them to teach me many important lessons. Tippy arrived just recently, and is so named because of … Read more